The good, the bad and the ugly
THE GOOD: Bellavista is in a very pretty setting. There are many hummingbirds and other birds as well, which are visible around the property and particularly around the hummingbird feeders. The best time of day to see the most variety of birds is at the 6:30 am hike. At the later hikes the birds are more difficult to see though binoculars help. There are a variety of hikes available and the guides are very nice, welcoming and knowledgeable. In fact, all the staff are very nice and generally helpful. The food is adequate -- tasty, with sufficient portions, though even though there is a 6:30 am hike, no coffee is available until 8 am other than instant coffee in your room.
THE BAD: Our room was disgusting. There were dead (and live) bugs, mosquitoes and moths. It is reasonable to expect live insects in the middle of a nature reserve. However it is not reasonable to expect dead ones in the room even after it was “cleaned” (the same dead bugs and moths were there the following day after the room had been made up). Given that this is a nature reserve it would also be reasonable to expect screens on the windows (which were left open prior to our arrival), however there were none. There was also no heat in the room other than a very small space heater, which we were encouraged to leave on for only small amounts of time. Leaving it on longer did help to take away the chill, but it did not make it comfortable. In fact, there was no place on the property that was comfortably warm and dry. I understand this is not a luxury property and it is in the cloud forest, which is a damp location, but I do not think it is unreasonable to expect a degree of comfort. Further, the room was filthy. As noted above, dead insects were all over our room so I walked around in socks rather than going barefoot. At the end of our one day stay my socks were so filthy that I later was unable to get them clean when I washed them.
THE UGLY: We had originally booked a room for 2 nights. After experiencing the room for a few hours and realizing that there was no other place on the property that was any more comfortable, we decided to leave the next day. I made the excuse that it was because of the weather because everyone was very nice and I did not want to offend them. When I asked about whether we could get any money back (we had prepaid) I was told that I could get all but 30% back but that we had to go through our travel agent. That was acceptable to me. I could not reach my travel agent at the time because there was no internet and no phone service on the property that day or the next. I did get in touch with her the next day from Quito and told her about it. She contacted Bellavista and they did not honor what I was told; our agent was told that we would not receive any money back. I then clarified the real reason we had left –- the appalling conditions of the room and the lack of ANY comfortable place anywhere on the property. When our travel agent contacted Bellavista again and clarified the real reasons we left, as well as what we had been told about getting all but 30% back) they said they would take it under consideration. Finally, after more than 2 weeks and several contacts by the travel agent, they have refused to give us any refund, stating that “Bellavista gave the complete services, as they were requested….” I do not know in what universe “complete services” includes a filthy room with dead (and live) bugs and no heat, not to mention that they reneged on what we were told when we left. My advice: stay away...
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